Alice in Borderland | Transmigration

Chapter 40

You heard that wrong. You should probably get your ears checked. Or was he talking about your blood type?

"Sorry...what?" 

Banda looked as deadpan as ever, except you caught the quirk of his lip and the amusement in his eyes.

"What's your type?"

You forced a smile on your face, desperately brainwashing yourself  into believing that he was asking about your blood type. He's a serial killer after all.

"B plus."

He gave you a flat stare. "No, I mean your type in men."

Your smile faltered. 

"Or women."

You were stunned into silence, and as the seconds ticked past, Banda didn't move an inch, just staring at you and waiting for your answer. Why did he want to know this? This was so out of character. 

"Uh...good to know you're not homophobic?"

"Stop avoiding the question."

"Am not."

His eyebrow raised slightly, a condescending look that weirdly reminded you of Chishiya.

You pursed your lips, mustering up the most generic answer, "uh...someone that takes care of me." Surely this'll do, who doesn't want someone that takes care of them?

"Be more specific."

"Specific how?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Appearance wise."

You blinked, waiting for the punchline.  

There was no punchline.

You threw your hands up, suddenly flustered, "I don't know! Hot guys. Hot girls. I like hot guys and hot girls."

He blinked at you, an undecipherable emotion on his face.

You refused to feel embarrassed by your answer, so you held your head high and gave him a challenging glare. With a sigh, he said the words you have been itching to hear, "fine, I'll help you."

Then his eyes changed, suddenly serious and cold. You froze.

"I will not help you again, so if you fail this round, don't think about coming to me again."

"Sir, yes sir."

With that, the two of you lapsed into silence. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable.

A minute later, Enji's footsteps alerted you of his presence. Looking up, you had to hold back a satisfied smile at his devastated state.

Upon seeing your expression, Enji had to physically hold back from lashing out on you. You felt a bit smug. Your eyes tracked a bead of sweat running down his neck, noticing his tense muscles and clenched jaw. It was only a matter of time before he attacked you if you weren't careful. You made a mental note to be less annoying.

Enji was trembling as he sat down in his spot. The gears were turning in his head, trying to find a loophole, a way for him to guarantee survival. His eyes flickered to Banda multiple times, and you would be lying if you said you weren't curious about what he was going to do next.

Enji shifted, and your eyes zeroed on Enji's hand, which tapped Banda's twice. Banda seemed to notice, but made no visible effort to move. Enji's tapping got more insistent, and you saw a flicker of annoyance flash through Banda's expression.

To Enji's delight, Banda stood up and started walking off. You were going to follow, but Enji shot you a withering glare, one that had you freeze up.

He stalked up to you, and you fought the urge to stumble back. He leaned in, face twisted and eyes cruel, "you. I don't know how you figured it out, but you are now number one on my hitlist."

"Ooh," you deadpanned, ignoring the slight waver in your voice, "scary."

His anger flared, and you started shuffling back when Banda's impatient voice called out, "if you have something to say, then you better hurry."

Enji clenched his jaw, and with one last glare, he stormed off.

You looked over helplessly at Chishiya who was eyeing your predicament with a smirk on his face. You flipped him off.

With five minutes left on the clock, the rest of the players had started making their way to the cells. After Banda and Enji left, they didn't come back, but now you saw them walking to their respective cells, Banda as deadpan as ever and Enji with a satisfied look on his face.

You wondered why nobody found him suspicious, he did a dreadful job at hiding his emotions. You stamped down the worry gnawing at you. You trusted Banda would keep his word, although if he didn't, you wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Chishiya and Ippei were walking towards you, and you flashed them a small smile. Ippei grinned back and Chishiya gave you a nod.

You addressed Ippei, "did everything go well?"

He nodded, "yes, no one did anything."

"Good. Chishiya?"

"I kept an eye on them. She only left his side to go to the pantry and looked pretty shaken. She didn't leave his side for the rest of the hour."

"Nice. You guys know your symbols?"

A hum.

You turned around and brushed your hair to the side. Chishiya wouldn't betray you at the last second right?

"Hearts."

You nodded, letting your hair back down, and swivelled back around.

With a grin on your face, you stated, "this game is over."

You didn't know whether you were trying to convince them or convince yourself.